Sea of Shadows

Eco-crime-documentary follow the deadly impact of cartels and animal smugglers

"...if there’s any hope of saving it. National Geographic documentary Sea of Shadows is hell-bent on reminding us of..."

Aug. 2, 2019 Movie Review by Sam Russek

AFS Doc Days Gets Cool With Miles Davis

Three day celebration of true tales returns for second year

"...Doc Days, the Austin Film Society's documentary mini-festival, comes back swinging for its second year with..."

April 26, 2019 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Free Solo

Staggering mountaineering achievement mixes vertigo with wonder

"...long dared humans to conquer it. In the kickass documentary Free Solo, 33-year-old professional mountain climber Alex Honnold takes..."

Oct. 12, 2018 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

The engineering secrets of a Hollywood great

"...quote from Hedy Lamarr opens this long-overdue cinematic biographical documentary of the perennially underestimated actress. When "underrated" is applied..."

Dec. 22, 2017 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography

Errol Morris' latest doc profiles Boston photographer

"...Ostensibly, this is a documentary profile of Elsa Dorfman, a photographer known for her..."

July 21, 2017 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Tower Lands on Oscars Doc Shortlist

15 advance, including local film about the UT shootings

"...Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. Turns out those twin prizes were a harbinger..."

Dec. 6, 2016 Screens Post by Kimberley Jones

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

The director of Twenty Feet From Stardom does another music doc

"...This is the drumbeat that drives Morgan Neville’s new documentary. The Oscar-winning director of Twenty Feet From Stardom films..."

July 8, 2016 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

SXSW Film Announces Audience Awards

SXSW Film announces Audience Awards and additional screenings

"...in total agreement about the best Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competition films at SXSW 2015. In both tallies,..."

March 21, 2015 Screens Post by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Great Invisible

Doc looks at the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the lives of residents in the Gulf area.

"...A documentary with an agenda, The Great Invisible solemnly recounts the..."

Dec. 12, 2014 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me

Touching documentary captures Campbell's final tour, which is made more poignant and brave because of the musician's worsening Alzheimer's.

"...This documentary about the final concert tour of country-music crossover legend..."

Nov. 21, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Citizenfour

When Edward Snowden was in that hotel room in Hong Kong sharing his initial intel about NSA surveillance, Laura Poitras' was there with a camera to film his disclosures.

"...After watching Pulitzer Prize-winner Laura Poitras’ new documentary about the early-on brouhaha surrounding government whistleblower Edward Snowden,..."

Nov. 7, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Overnighters

The fracking boom in Williston, N.D., has created hard times in the land of plenty as shown in this devastating doc.

"...A social-justice documentary that packs a visceral emotional wallop to the heart..."

Oct. 17, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

20,000 Days on Earth

This documentary (for which Nick Cave receives a script credit), gets inside the artist's notoriously fussy creative process.

"...What’s great about this “documentary” – Cave gets a script credit alongside the directors,..."

Oct. 3, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Dog

Dog Day Afternoon is a film about a wildly true bank robbery; as conveyed by John Wojtowicz in this doc, the story gets even nuttier when told from the horse's mouth.

"...great critical acclaim and box-office success. The raggedly entertaining documentary The Dog recounts this and other chapters in Wojtowicz’s..."

Aug. 22, 2014 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Life Itself

The life of Roger Ebert is celebrated in this documentary by the director of Hoop Dreams.

"...This deeply loving documentary by the gifted Steve James (Hoop Dreams), evokes the..."

July 11, 2014 Movie Review by Louis Black

Before You Know It

There's an aging LGBT community that is only getting bigger and older, and this documentary investigates that process – in ways both specific and universal.

"...The award-winning documentary Before You Know It chronicles the winter years of..."

June 20, 2014 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Tim's Vermeer

Vermeer must have painted by using a camera obscura and Tim Jenison spends four years proving the method in this fascinating documentary by Penn & Teller.

"...brief running time and revelatory story, this neat, fascinating documentary ought to be required viewing for art history students..."

March 21, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Alison Klayman's doc is as much a rallying cry for freedom of expression as it is a portrait in progress of an artist whose career is ongoing.

"...the parting slogan in Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, the documentary portrait of China’s best-known dissident artist, who has recently..."

Aug. 10, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Mansome

Will Arnett and Jason Bateman are our guides in this Morgan Spurlock documentary that looks at men's relationship with their body hair in contemporary America.

"...The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, is developing a hit-or-miss documentary style that makes one wonder if he's stretching himself..."

May 18, 2012 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

The cult following that surrounds the audio tapes of a couple of slurry drunks that were surreptitiously recorded in the late Eighties is given the documentary treatment.

"...Matthew Bate's documentary recounts the birth of that cult, which counts Devo..."

Oct. 7, 2011 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Tabloid

Errol Morris finds a real character for his documentary subject this time – scandal magnet Joyce McKinney, who allegedly abducted and raped a Mormon missionary.

"...Errol Morris. In his three decades of highly acclaimed documentary-making, Oscar winner Errol Morris (The Fog of War: Eleven..."

Aug. 5, 2011 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Trollhunter

Wayward trolls threaten human life in this delightfully bizarre Norwegian film.

"...um, troll to this fantastical and wholly unique faux documentary from Norway, land of giants. Well, not entirely unique:..."

June 17, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Forks Over Knives

This documentary presents evidence that a whole-foods diet can prevent the occurrence of cancer, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes.

"...given in this tightly constructed, thoroughly convincing, and dull-as-dirt documentary. It's ostensibly aimed at everyone, and in particular Westerners..."

May 13, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Last Lions

This stunning nature documentary about the vanishing lions of Africa is not your children’s Lion King.

"...Directed by: Dereck Joubert. This nature documentary about the vanishing lions of Africa is not your..."

March 18, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

A Film Unfinished

This fascinating documentary uses recently uncovered footage to piece together and decipher the ulterior meaning of a Nazi propaganda film recorded in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943.

"...there is no single suitable answer. This is a documentary about film footage of the Jews in the Warsaw..."

Dec. 3, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Last Exorcism

This faux documentary pulls few punches in its fresh look at what happens when religion and the secular world collide.

"...generation gets the devil it deserves, and this faux documentary pulls few punches in its nihilistic depiction of religious..."

Aug. 27, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Documentary? Artwork? Puzzle? Prank? Social commentary? This film by the British graffiti artist known as Banksy is, indeed, all of the above.

"...Directed by: Banksy. Documentary? Artwork? Puzzle? Prank? Social commentary? This film by the..."

May 14, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Paper Heart

Ultra-introverted mumblenerd comedian Charlene Yi shines in this faux documentary that problematically blurs the line between staged, improvised, and "real" events.

"...and it's easy to see why. As a lightweight, documentaryish examination of the mysteries of the human heart, it's..."

Aug. 21, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Cove

This marvelously made agitprop documentary exposes the dark secrets that underpin the world’s dolphin mania.

"...one of the speakers in this marvelously made agitprop documentary that enlightens, horrifies, and is a call to action..."

Aug. 7, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Every Little Step

This pleasingly meta documentary about the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line intersperses clips from Michael Bennett's original interviews with key players with scenes from the exhaustive search for a new cast.

"...will happen again and again in this pleasingly meta documentary about the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line,..."

June 5, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

« 1    ‹ BACK    3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12     NEXT ›    34 »